Brother John: I think that I will have stopped growing, reflecting, meditating, and thinking if I become fixed. I have more than a dash of mysticism and appreciate the poets, who never could quite fully say in words what they are realizing, sensing and feeling. Richard

Brother John: I am reworking and reworking as I go along. Since I think that creeds impede thought I feel a precious luxury of freedom at last. Another thought is to recall Thomas Cranmer and his ever changing views on the real presence. Cranmer found God more in worship than doctrine. I find God in the reverence I feel for life, nature, and reality. I feel no need to be afraid to revise as new intuitions come along. Many great mathematicians and physicists, which I certainly am not, saw flashes of insight and revised their reflections accordingly. Just a thought. Richard

As I have explored philosophy, religion, and theology, I have found myself restoring references to God in my thinking and meditation. I seem to be somewhere in the spectrum of religious naturalism of the third variety according to wikipedia, which overlaps with process thought and panentheism. God is nature, but more than nature. It is a kind of creation spirituality, an evolutionary panentheism. I see God as real. I do not subscribe to the traditional concepts of omnipotence, omniscience, and modify benevolence to recognize that nature is neutral to "natural evil" and its effects on people. I reject traditional Christianity, and its doctrines of the incarnation, the trinity, the physical resurrection, supernaturalism, and so on. I see Jesus as a sublime teacher and prophet with the "divine spark" in him. Metaphorically, Jesus can bridge the human and the divine. I gravitate most to the thought of Charles Hartshorne now. I could be described as progressive/liberal Christian depending on how lenient the critic of my reflections would be on my views of Jesus. The UUA makes great sense for me, and best represents my spiritual needs. I can appreciate liberal Quakers and Reform Judaism. The TEC is elastic enough to tolerate my idiosyncracies, so I am glad that my requst to resign was ignored. The Anglican/Episcopal Forum is among the very best on all of Beliefnet. Blessings. Richard

Richard ... with all due respect, I can't keep track of what your believing from one day to the next (and that's ok)but as Dutch says ... keep on trucking!

I'm sure that someday you will actually figure out what you believe an leave all else behind. Personally, I believe that First Nations Spirituality (Native American) has it more bang on than any of us. They don't need all the hocus pocus and labelling that we seem to need.

Brother John: I remain in the third variety of religious naturalism, which does believe in God. In my case, it is a process approach. Charles Hartshorne has been of more help to me posthumously than anyone else. Theologically, i am a Unitarian, and quite cormfortably. I am a member of the Church of the Larger Fellowship. I have reached a workable compromise with my family. A new pastor has been installed at my Mom's ELCA church. He is a Terry Fugate, a dear friend of 18 years. He accepts me as the "Thomas Jefferson" of Ascension with much respect. I have remained a nominal member there as I do at Grace. My wife is going to join without having to do a Lutheran confitrmation, and my son, Shane, will be baptized as an adult there. Terry said stay yourself as a Unitarian, and be a social Ascension member fully. I have personal peace now, and family harmony. Bea can never accept gay ordination, so the TEC is out for her, and Mom's 91.5, so she needs her son in church with her. Richard